As I’ve said before, the black bloc as a tactic is a form of patriarchal nationalism that undermines whatever feeble gains are made in the street by reducing anarchism to a uniform, flag, and constructed identity. It is no surprise that fascists have taken this tactic and style as their own, because the tactic in and of itself is synonymous with the tenets of fascism. People do not participate in the black bloc out of tactical concerns, they do so out of the desire to form a national identity. The black bloc is a construction of whiteness. The black bloc is a construction of patriarchy. The black bloc is a construction of homophobia. The good news is now we’ll be able to spot the cops and the fascists at our rally’s and on the streets, they’ll be wearing all black.
Fascists in Serbia attacking a gay pride parade
Fascists in Serbia attacking a gay pride parade
Anarcho Nationalist Rally
Anarcho Nationalist Rally
Anarcho Nationalist Rally
Anarcho Nationalist Rally
Anarcho Nationalist Rally
louis,
you simplify things a bit much my friend, and are using a specific social occurance to justify a previous point out of context, and as well quickly make some flashy sentences with nothing to back it up (black bloc is _____). specifically in regards to autonomous nationalist groups in germany especially but also in eastern europe, these groups formed primarily as a way for nazism to be redressed as their enemies. much in the same way we have christian rock bands, the old nazi groups wish to attract new disaffected youth, so they use the costume of the left autonomous movement in europe, namely the dress, punk, and the styles including the black bloc dress and tactic. you can see by their refangled antifa flags that they are just trying to copy and confuse people, and to hide their real nazi tendencies. really, these folks are just assholes trying to hid it.
as for the whole idea of blak bloc, hiding one’s identity is of utmost importance today, whith the cops hitting the streets at every demo with video cameras to pick us out by our shoes. the so called ‘uniform’ is to avoiod being picked out by police snatch squads who will charge in like a bunch of linebackers to grab someone IF they can identify the stone thrower. while you chafe at the uniformity, it is really creating anonymitiy which is important, something which is quickly eroding. but enough, you can have your doubts, and really in the states people who try to bloc up for the most part do it inappropriately anyways, but just know that the AN groups copy it from the real autonomous, not the other way around.
europe,
thanks for the thoughtful response, I was hoping that someone would engage this topic thoughtfully so I could expand on these ideas more here in the comments. I definitely makes several leaps in my little tirade so hopefully this will clear things up a little.
While I agree that the black bloc is used incorrectly for the most parts here in n.america, I still think that even in Europe and outside Europe there is a disturbing disconnect between tactic and subcultural uniform. I definitely support the tactic of anonymity in confrontations with the police, however I don’t think that this desire for anonymity justifies the extensive proliferation of the black bloc, and as I argue I think the widespread popularity of this “tactic” can only be explained by nationalist desires. As I mention in my first article, there are many many instances of anti-authoritarian riots and resistances where anonymity does not equate to uniformity. I think that this idea is a particularly dangerous idea for Europeans as well as everyone else, the idea that the only type of tactical anonymity is one of uniformity. I would argue that the uniform of the black bloc creates targets rather than anonymous subjects and that the better tactical choice would be a fluid anonymity, one where a random t-shirt is used as a face mask/hood then disposed and replaced with a different t-shirt mask.
Fluid anonymity is naturally nothing new, it’s actually the way every successful confrontation with the cops works, from LA ’92 to the Banlieues ’05 to the Mapuche today, the only difference is that this type of fluid anonymity is not the one you see in the flyers and anarchist advertisements. What I think is the most disturbing is how anarchist propaganda is constructing this myth of the black bloc nation. It’s the way we are presenting our politics that is the root of this anarcho-nationalism that in some ways explains why the black bloc can be so easily appropriated by fascists. Why is it that we anarchists can see a revolt like the Mapuche, which in terms of fashion has a wildly diverse set of applications for different garments, then allow that revolt to be reduced to a black silhouette throwing a molotov cocktail ( http://tan.anarchyplanet.org/files/2010/04/ccon-1.jpg )? Is this the only way that white people can acknowledge rebellions from another culture? To reduce them to their own white colonialist desire for a black mask? Shouldn’t we be wary of the connection between the manarchist backlash against identity politics and the utter inescapable domination of the black bloc in anarchist iconography?
As well, I think your Christian Rock analogy is absolutely appropriate, but perhaps not in the way you meant. Rock music, death metal and grindcore, is in one reading an expression of masculine rage and nationalist anxieties, where the desires to mutilate and murder the other is naturalized and explored as a projection of their own identity. This sexual and sadistic relationship to the other is of course at the root of nationalism and patriarchy and so in the same way that fascism can freely thrive behind the black mask of the black bloc, so can it flourish in the ritualistic masculinity of death metal and grindcore as in your examples of the Christian death metal. Of course, I will always have a soft spot for metal heads (non fascist ones, duh) and want them to get their hate on if they need to, but at the end of the day I think we should allow ourselves to critically look at why anarchist culture is predominantly white and male (http://www.anarchistsurvey.com/results/) and how we reproduce that culture of racism and patriarchy within our music, fashion and advertisements. From that critical stance, we can re-imagine our representations to become a more fluid self presentation that does not hide and stifle difference behind a black mask but presents our politic through a fluid anonymity that rather than presenting one uniform anarchism or insurrection proposes a million anarchies and a million insurrections at once.
this is interesting. i don’t know how many times i’ve looked around at an action and noticed that the only people wearing any smidgen of colour are the poc. there’s still something to be said for the anonymity though—its efficacy re security culture perhaps comes from ‘disappearing’ into the normative anarchist body (white, male).
this aside, i read something a while back—wish i could remember who/what—that located the black block aesthetic in bpp actions in the 60s, 70s. masking up as hella fashionable blackface for white anarchists (and french vogue), perhaps.
The image on the Chicago Conspiracy flyer you linked to is probably (though not necessarily) taken directly from the film itself. Have you seen it? Hella molotov-throwing (mostly) boys on the Chilean streets.
Anyway, though I think I disagree with you on a few points (haven’t entirely thought it out), I must say that I wouldn’t be entirely surprised to see an “anarchist” BLACK BLOC NATION poster with a little riot dude on it. Sigh.